The Way Home
by theoceanquill
Summary: There's still something left to save, because the hardest person to forgive is oneself. /A series of interconnected one-shots dealing with Sasuke's slow journey to redemption. SasuSaku. Team 7.
Kakashi arrives in Konoha's General Hospital a few hours after midnight, and walks to Room 3710. By the side of the door, the names _Uchiha Sasuke_ and _Uzumaki Naruto_ were written.

He twists the knob and enters, stunned to see Naruto awake and casually sitting on his hospital bed.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto nods in greeting.

He smiles underneath his mask, his visible eye crinkling. He quickly examines the room: two beds, a sofa, a small table, cabinets–nothing out of the ordinary. But no sign of Sakura.

A couple of hours ago, a distraught nurse sought him out regarding his pink-haired student. According to the concerned colleague, Sakura was over-working herself, occupying her time healing the army of shinobi coming home. Kakashi sighed then. He knew that more than her generous desire to help, this gave her a reason to stay close to her teammates, to watch over their recovery. The nurse informed him that nobody at the hospital could convince her to go home and rest, and everyone is deathly worried.

 _She must still be healing someone right now…_

Before continuing his search, Kakashi quietly approaches the foot of the other bed, expecting to see Sasuke sleeping, but he spots pink hair sprawled across the pillow. _Sakura?_

Through the window, the streetlamp illuminates Sakura's form underneath a thin sheet of blanket. She was shivering. Kakashi sighs, knowing this collapse was bound to happen.

Seems like he'll still be continuing his search, albeit for a different student.

Kakashi turns to Naruto, about to ask Sasuke's whereabouts. He pauses when he sees the the young man inspecting his right arm.

Naruto tests the movements of what remained of his limb. "It'll be hard to get used to this. Sasuke woke me up, and we somehow managed to carry Sakura-chan to bed. We found her crashed on the sofa." Naruto chuckles a little. "How long have we been here?"

"A little more than a day." Kakashi continues, "Where's Sasuke?"

The door opens, revealing the man in question, holding a blanket.

Naruto was the first to speak, "About time. What took you so long?" Sasuke doesn't reply. He takes a step towards Kakashi's direction.

"Shouldn't you be bedridden?"

"Aa."

Kakashi watches as Sasuke unfolds the blanket, and wraps the trembling Sakura underneath it. Naruto stands, and walks to the opposite side of the bed, in front of Sasuke. Dissatisfied with the way Sakura is cloaked, Naruto adjusts the sheets.

When Sasuke raises a hand, Kakashi can't help but panic for a second, until he sees his student gently press a palm on Sakura's forehead. The young Uchiha announces, "She doesn't have a fever."

"Sakura-chan's _freezing!_ Couldn't you find anymore blankets?"

"There aren't any left."

Kakashi muses the number of patients coming and going. With the war ending around a day ago, the hospital must be terribly busy. "Have you had her checked?" He asks, still eyeing Sasuke, not out of suspicion, but of curiosity.

Naruto responds, "Yeah! The doctor said she just needs her rest!"

"Dobe, you're too loud!" Sasuke whispers harshly. Naruto scowls and doesn't bother a retort, knowing Sasuke is right.

Sasuke hasn't moved his gaze away from the drained medic, his palm still resting on her forehead. Time ticks away, and they remain in their spots. The sound of Sakura's staggered breathing fills the room.

Kakashi feels Naruto's eyes on him so he looks up, only to see Naruto's eyes dart to Sasuke, and settles there for a while before returning to Sakura.

Naruto smiles softly, with a tinge of sadness.

Kakashi takes a glimpse at Sasuke, and sees him deep in thought, his brows mildly furrowed as he stares at Sakura, and at the same time, not at her, but beyond. It was as if Sasuke was peering at his past.

More minutes rot in the darkness.

Naruto breaks the silence between them, "Sakura forgives you, Sasuke."

Kakashi sees the hand on Sakura's forehead stiffen, before moving back to the side of its owner.

Sasuke turns to Naruto, a few beats are lost. Then he responds, "It's not that."

The cheerful boy gives one of his trademark grins. "You're back. That's all that matters."

Kakashi briefly looks at Sasuke to gauge his reaction. He finds him watching Sakura again, with the same conflicted expression.

"Sasuke…" This time, Kakashi speaks, gaining the attention of his two students.

"Sakura understands you were not who you are when you did all those things. You yourself know this."

Sasuke doesn't break his gaze towards the sleeping figure, his eyes narrow slightly. "Yet I still did them."

"Come on, Sasuke," Naruto says, "With all that has happened to you–"

Sasuke glowers at Naruto suddenly, silencing him. "Even if you were in my place, you wouldn't have chosen the path I walked on, would you, Naruto?"

Naruto returns a determined look. "No, I wouldn't have," he sighs. "I'm not saying what happened to you is an excuse for what you did."

"Sasuke," Kakashi starts, more firmly this time, "The things that you did are in the past…" Before he could continue, Sasuke cuts him off.

"That doesn't erase what I've done. The–" Sasuke looks at Sakura again, and exhales sharply. "What I've caused…they're still part of me."

"Not if you change." Naruto adds, trying again. "That's what matters."

Kakashi presses on, "Who you are… who you want to be–don't waste it." Sasuke briefly meets Kakashi's gaze at the corner of his eyes. "What you do and will do–that decides everything."

Sasuke closes his eyes, and breathes. The streetlamp flickers erratically, and the light disappears. Darkness envelopes the room. The clouds are wafted away by a languid wind, slowly revealing the moon. In a second, its faint, delicate light reaches the weary members of Team 7.

More minutes passed away as the moonlight washes over them.

A feminine voice calls out, "Sasuke-kun," and all three of them are surprised.

It's the most exhausted, they've ever seen her. But Sakura's unmistakably green eyes are bright, even in the darkness.

She declares in serene, hushed tones, "You're worth more… than what you have done."

Both Kakashi and Naruto witness Sakura offering Sasuke a smile, and it somehow warms the room, reaching the tiniest corners.

"I'm… I'm glad that…" she closes her eyes, "We're all here." She doesn't speak another word. Once knowing she has done everything she could, she gives into her fatigue.

The moment drifts, flowing like the light of the moon. At the edge of the world, a divide rests–separating those who bathe in the sun, and those who long for it. The moon takes care of those who find themselves trapped, reaching for the deep crevices below. She is generous without being imposing. Eternally nestled in darkness, she is compassionate. But knowing light, she doesn't succumb. She only waits for you. bestowing just enough light to see, without judgement on your shadows. This is where you draw strength until you can come out and drink in the sun again.

Kakashi looks at Sasuke, and sees Naruto doing the same. His head is bowed low; his expression slightly obscured by the veil of his hair. Still, they don't miss the few tears that escape the eyes of the last Uchiha, coming to rest at the face of the woman who cherished him, and fought for him, even when he was not himself, severed by the gravity of loss he had to endure.

Kakashi and Naruto look on as Sasuke wipes his own tears by brushing a thumb along Sakura's cheek.

A comforting lull permeates the room. Here, two men silently observe a friend, a comrade, a brother, a kin. He hovers over a woman in deep slumber. They wish that he realizes there is at least one thing in the world he did not lose.

Two beds, a sofa, a small table, cabinets–nothing out of the ordinary.

The moon peeks from a single window situated between the beds.

After four years, this is where Team 7 spends their first night home.

–

Note: I love Ricoeur.  
A small note on Ricoeur: _You are what you do._ But what if you've done something so awful, that you foam at your mouth in regret and curse yourself? _I did this. But this is not me, not me._ This is where the liberating act of forgiveness comes in. Forgiveness unbinds you from your actions–from the wrong thing you have done. It is recognizing that the regretful action is no longer ascribed to you. That you can transcend whatever it is that you did wrong. You can rise from it. You can have an identity separate from it, because forgiveness gives you the freedom to change and rework who you are. It is the wronged person telling you and/or you telling yourself, _You are worth more than what you have done._ Isn't that beautiful? I just kept thinking of Sasuke, and his journey of redemption.

Naruto got to him. Naruto broke down his walls, and freed him from his curse of hatred. But it doesn't end there, you know? Something is still left to save, something left to forgive.. to mend. This is where Sakura comes in! Oh how I wish Kishi dwelled on this! (and not only because of all the SasuSaku we will see lol) (but maybe mostly because of that haha)

Anyway, this is why I'm writing this! _ SasuSaku is so enigmatic that we keep having to imagine these moments. There is both beauty and frustration in that.

Thank you to Madara-fate… whose posts inspired me to write down this idea. I asked him a question which bothered me greatly, and his answer single-handedly made me realize a lot of things. Thank you for making my understanding of the whole series a lot better. You are awesome.


End file.
